Device for defense against the attack of high-speed torpedo boats



1943. I M. c. SCHWAB 2,327,463

DEVICE FOR DEFENSE AGAINST THE ATTACK OF HIGH-SPEED TORPEDO BOATS Filed Sept. 5, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 1 g- 1.943 M. c. SCHWAB 2,327,463

DEVICE FOR DEFENSE AGAINST THE ATTACK OF HIGH-SPEED TORPEDO BOATS Filed Sept. 5, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 oi 40-60 miles per hour.

atented Aug. 24, 1943 DEVICE FOR. DEFENSE AGAINST THE ATTACK OF HIGH-SPEED TORPEDO BOATS Martin C. Schwab, Chicago, 11L

Application September 3, 1941, Serial No. 409,366

5 Claims.

vided with one or more, and usually four, torpedo tubes. Such vessels usually have mahogany hulls, although the hulls may be formed of light steel plates, and are provided with powerful motors and are adapted to travel at very high speeds These vessels are a serious menace, particularly at night, to naval vessels and merchant ships not only in their anchorages but under way either singly or in convoys ofi hostile coasts. Patrol torpedo boats do not have a long radius of operation but are exceedingly dangerous in operations along a hostile coast and to anchorages which are not remote from an enemy base of operations. For example, a squadron of twelve patrol torpedo boats may dash into an anchorage or attack a convoy at close range under cover of darkness, launch forty-eight torpedoes in a few seconds, turn and be ofl to open waters before even medium size naval guns can be brought to bear on them and, accordingly, it will be readily seenthat the usual means of naval defense, such as even the medium size guns carried on destroyers, do not offer much protection against the attack of patrol torpedo boats.

An .object of the present invention, therefore,

is to provide a device adapted to protect both naval vessels and merchant ships against the attack of patrol torpedo boats. My device is particularly adapted to protect naval vessels and merchant ships against attack while at anchor, and the device may be employed to protect the entrances to such anchorages or harbors, since it may be lowered to permit the entrance of friendly vessels. It may also be used to protect slow moving convoys of merchant ships at points along their courses which are particularly exposed to the attack of such enemy patrol torpedo boats, such points being those which are not too remote from an enemy base of operation.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a boom comprising a plurality of members adapted to snare, sink or capsize rapidly moving mosquito boats. The device also affords some protection against the attack of enemy destroyers or submarines adapted to launch torpedoes, since it is adapted to deflect or intercept torpedoes.

In its broader aspect, the invention comprises booms formed of long heavy logs secured .to-

gether, the logs being provided with one or more members adapted to pierce the wooden hulls of high-speed patrol torpedo boats. When the booms are employed to protect anchorages, they are preferably moored slightly below the surface of the water, such as a foot or two below the surface, so as not to be visible from the attacking mosquito boats and not readily discernible by enemy reconnaisance planes. Patrol torpedo boats only draw about two feet or water and, accordingly, the booms'are not submerged more than twelve inches. At night time they may be allowed to float with a portion of the logs exposed above the surface. Normally the booms will float with two-thirds or a half of the logs above the surface of the water, and the boom can easily be supplied with weights or anchors to keep them just under the surface of the water or as low as 12 inches under water.

A further feature of the invention is the fact that my improved device affords protection to naval vessels and merchant ships against torpedoes launched from patrol torpedo boats, destroyers or submarines, since if the booms of logs lie partially submerged between the attacking vessels and the naval or merchant ships to be protected, the torpedoes will be exploded by contact against the heavy logs, or if not exploded their forward progress will be stopped.

The invention will be readily understood from the following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan diagrammatic view showing naval vessels under way protected by a stationary boom of logs upon which enemy patrol torpedo boats have been impaled and which have been struck by enemy torpedoes and also a boom of logs being towed by a submarine on the flank of the convoy;

Fig. 2, a diagrammatic perspective view showing a boom of logs protecting the opening to an anchorage with devices for lowering the boom to permit entry of friendly vessels;

Fig. 3, a plan view of a boom of logs according to my invention;

Fig. 4, a perspective view of a prong member adapted to be secured to said logs; V

Fig. 5, a perspective view of another pron member adapted to be secured on said logs; and

Fig. 6, a vertical sectional view partly in elevation, taken along the line 6-4 of Fig. 3.

paled thereon and rendered inoperable.

Referring to the drawings and particularly Figs. 1 and 3, the reference character A indicates a boom formed of a plurality of logs 9 suitably secured together. Each log of the boom is preferably 40-50 feet long, is a foot or two in diameter so that it will have considerable bulk and weight, and preferably has its natural bark remaining on its surface. The logs are provided at their ends and at a mid point with a series of rings H), H, and I2. Each ring comprises two semicircular members i3 and I4 adapted to be bolted at each end to secure a firm grip on the log. The logs are formed in sections comprising a plurality of logs; as shown in the drawings, each section is composed of six logs disposed in substantially parallel arrangement, but fewer or a greater number of logs may be united in a section. The logs are held together in spaced relationship by chains llsecured to the bolts [6 of the rin members. To protect a given area,'a plurality of sections of logs is secured together to form a large boom. The logs of each section are preferably disposed in substantially parallel arrangement, and the logs of adjoining sections preferably are disposed at a 90 angle to each other. The sections are held together to form a boom by means of chains il secured to the ring members at the corners of each section.

Each log is preferably provided with one or more impaling members It. The impaling members comprise a ring portion formed of two semicircular sections I9 and adapted to be bolted together so as to be securely fastened upon the log. The upper member I9 is equipped with a plurality of prongs 2i welded to the member at the base and having upwardly and outwardly tapering portions formed of forged steel. The prongs may be from 12 to 18 inches long, and it will be readily understood that upon striking the same at a high speed a mosquito boat of the type described, if it has a wooden hull, will be im- As shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, some of the prone members, such as 22, flare outwardly at right angles to the axis of the logs, while other prong members 2! are disposed in a line along the axis of the logs. The impaling member [8 may be provided with three outwardly flaring tapering prong members. The ring members I0, I l, and I2, secured to the adjoining logs by chains 15,

- tend to keep the prong members 22 in an upright position.

In Fig. 2, a boom A of logs provided with impaling members of the type described, is shown protecting the entrance to an anchorage and extending across the entrance. One end of the boom is shown equipped with a dev ce for raisin and lowering the boom to permit the passage of friendly vessels thereover. of standards 24 mounted on a concrete block at the bottom of the channel or otherwise weighted to remain at the bottom, the standards being provided with sheaves 25. A pair of sheaves 26 is disposed above the standards on a dock 21 or pierhead. Cables 28 are secured to the corners of the boom and lead downwardly under the sheaves 25 and upwardly over the sheaves 26 to a truck 29 equipped with winches adapted to wind in the cables. It will thus be seen that one end of the boom A may be lowered to permit the passage of vessels thereover by winding in the cables 28. The other end of the boom is hooked to a pierheau 30 by means of chains 3! and a hook 32, but it is to be understood that this end This includes a pair may likewise be provided with a device of the type described adapted to raise or lower the boom A.

Thus it will be seen that my device comprising a plurality of long heavy logs having impaling members secured on their upper surfaces and bound together in spaced relation to form booms, provides a strong defensive weapon against the attack of high-speed patrol torpedo boats whose chief danger is surprise and the ability to discharge torpedoes rapidly. As shown in Fig. 2, the device may be employed to prevent patrol torpedo boats from entering anchorages by placing a boom comprising a number of sections of logs across the channel to an anchorage in such manner that the device may be lowered to permit the passage of friendly vessels over the device without injury. Likewise, the device may be employed to protect ships moored in an exposed position, or, as shown in Fig. 1, booms of logs may be towed to positions where the danger of attack to a convoy or other ships is greatest, namely, at places not far remote from a hostile coast. As shown in Fig. l, a boom B may be towed by tugboats or other vessels 33 to protect the flanks of warships 34 or other vessels. Fig, i also depicts the fate of enemy patrol torpedo boats 35 when they strike at high speed a boom A of legs, showing the boats impaled thereon and thus incapacitated for future action. The booms A, as shown in Fig. 1, are also adapted to intercept torpedoes 36 projected from the submarine 31; the torpedoes may be discharged by contact against the heavy logs 9 of the boom, or if the contact is not severe enough to discharge the torpedoes, their forward speed will be interrupted.

Booms of logs may be carried as part of the equipment of such ships on the decks of naval vessels or merchant ships, launched by winches and towed to protect following ships at places where an attack from high-speed torpedo boats is expected or when such torpedo boats have been sighted. Furthermore, single logs or groups of logs provided with impaling members may be carried on the decks of ships and thrown overboard to protect the vessel against torpedo attack, in the event the vessels engines should break down, during the time required to make the necessary repairs.

It will also be understood that, in case an extremely heavy obstacle in the path of such highspced torpedo boats is desired, two tiers of logs may be placed one above the other and floated or towed in the manner described.

Pipes formed of steel sealed at both ends to provide buoyancy may be employed in place of wooden logs in the booms heretofore described, and in the specification and claims it is to be understood that the term logs" includes both wooden logs and metallic pipes, although in view of the heavier weight of wooden logs, the latter are preferred in employing my invention. Some pipes of ,the boom may be filled with water to weight the boom so that it will not float above the surface too prominently.

What I claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a device adapted to protect ships against the attack of patrol torpedo boats comprising a plurality of logs secured together in spaced relation in the form of a boom disposed substantially parallel to the surface of the body in which it is floating, and upwardly flaring prong members having pointed ends adapted to share the hull of highspeed torpedo boats and being fixedly mounted on the upper surface of said logs.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a defensive device against the attack of patrol torpedo boats comprising a, plurality of logs secured together in spaced relation in the form of a boom disposed substantially parallel to the surface of the body in which it is floating, and a plurality of upwardly flaring prong members adapted to snare the hulls of high-speed torpedo boats fixedly mounted on the upper surface of said logs, the axis of some of said prong members being parallel to the axis of said logs, and the axi oi other prong members being transverse to the axis 01 said logs.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a defensive device against the attack of high-speed torpedo boats comprising a boom of unpeeled logs, an impaling member including a plurality of outwardly flaring prongs of forged steel fixedly carried on the upper surface of each log by a ring member, said boom including a plurality of secnected to said ring members.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a device adapted to close the channel to an anchorage to the entry 01 hostile high-speed torpedo boats comprising a boom of logs secured together in spaced relation and across said channel the substantially parallel to nel in its normal position, each log being provided on its upper surface with a plurality of impaling member rigidly mounted thereon comprising outwardly and upwardly flaring forks of steel, chains secured to one end of said boom adapted to be removably fastened to an abutment at one side of said channel, sheaves anchored to the bottom of the other side 01' said wind said cable end of said boom.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a device adapted to close a channel to spaced relationship the axis of said boom being substantially parallel to the surface of the chantially below the surface of said channel to permit the passage thereover of friendly ships, said means including sheaves firmly anchored at the bottom of said channel, sheaves saidxfirst mentioned sheaves above the surface of said channel, cables secured to the ends of said boom leading under said lowermost sheaves and over the upper sheaves to a winch.

MAR'I'JN C. SCHWAB. 

